Railway track lubricating apparatus



Aug. 8, 944.

lT. E. RODMAN ETAL RAILWAY TRACK LUBRICATING APPARATUS Filed March 31, 1941 Patented Aug. 8, 1944 RAILWAY TRACK LUBRICATING APPARATUS Thomas E. Rodman, Glencoe, and Harold G. Warr, Park Ridge, Ill., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Poor & Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application March 431, 1941, Serial No. 386,146

1 Claim.

This invention relates to railway track lubricating apparatus, and has particular reference :to improvements in that type of apparatus which supplies to the inner side of the head of a railway rail, at curves and other necessary locations, a lubricant to be picked up and distributed along the rail by the anges of locomotive and car Awheels to reduce frictional Wear and noise due to `a lubricant distributing device located at the side 'of the rail to be lubricated and connected with said reservoir, a pump for supplying lubricant from said reservoir to said distributing device,

`and means operable by the passing of locomotive and car wheels over a given part of the track to actuate said pump. Moreover, the invention relates, still more particularly to track rail lubricating apparatus oi the type mentioned in which the `operative connection between the pump and its actuating means is of the closed-circuit, hydraulic type.

Generally speaking, the object of the present invention is to provide an exceptionally simple, inexpensive, practical and thoroughly reliable track rail lubricating apparatus of the type mentioned in which the lubricant pump preferably, but not necessarily, is located within and protected by the lubricant reservoir and is removably carried by the cover of the lubricant reservoir for ready removal therefrom for cleaning, repair, part-replacement or other purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lubricating apparatus of the type mentioned embodying provision to compensate for expansion and contraction of the liquid contained in the closed circuit between the pump and thepump actuating means, thereby to insure proper functioning of the apparatus despite changes in ternperature of the ambient air. With the foregoing and other vobjects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of 'the' invention is better understood, the

same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described,` illus- .trated in the accompanying drawing and de- 'iined in the appended claim.

vIn the accompanying drawing: 1

Figure 1 is a cross sectional `view through-a track rail and lubricating apparatus therefor con-4 structed in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a detail cross sectional view illustrating an alternative form ofpump actuating means.

Referring to the drawing in detail, first with particular reference to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, A designates a railway rail, B designates a cross tie supporting said rail, C designates a lubricant reservoir which may be sunk in the ground or otherwise conveniently located adjacent to said rail A, D designates a lubricant distributing device mounted at the inner side of the rail A to be supplied with lubricant from the reservoir C, El designates a pump for forcing lubricant from the reservoir C to the lubricant distributing device D, and F designates a device, operable by the passage of train wheels over the rail A, to actuate the pump E. The action here involved is that the lubricant will be applied to the side of the rail head and the face of the wheel flange from the distributing device or bar and in turn applied to the rail head by successive revolutions of the wheel. These spots of lubricant are then spread out by contact of successive wheels and also by reason of the fact that wheels vary in diameter. This process is continued until, at a point a number of rail lengths beyond the lubricator, a continuous coating of lubricant is spread on the face of the rail flange.

The lubricant reservoir C is provided with a cover I0 which may be lifted to permit filling of said reservoir, and in accordance with the practical embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1 the pump E is carried by said cover and depends therefrom into said reservoir, being preferably removably mounted on said cover for cleaning, repair or other purposes through the instrumentality of a plug II threaded into a preferably central opening in said cover.

The pump E comprises a cylinder I2 threaded at its upper end into the plug Il and depending from said plug to a point preferably near the bottom of the reservoir C. This cylinder may be of any suitable diameter and at its upper end is closed by the plug I I, while at its bottom it is in communication with the reservoir C under the control of a suitable check valve I3 which opens toward said cylinder and closes toward duit I5, while suitably associated with the duct I4 is a check valve I6 which closes toward said cylinder I2 and opens toward said lubricant distributing device.

Suitably mounted in the cylinder I2, as upon a head Il carried by the lower end of a pipe section I8 suitably supported at its upper end by the plug iI and extending therethrough, is an expansible and contractable bellows-piston I9 which, at its upper end, is in communication with said pipe section I8 and which otherwise is closed, being completely closed with respect to said cylinder. Suitable ducts or passageways ZIJ in the head I'I permit flow of lubricant therethrough from the cylinder space at the lower side thereof to the cylinder space at the upper side thereof. It will thus be apparent, assuming that the reservoir C contains lubricant and that lubricant lls the cylinder I2, the conduit I5 and the lubricant distributing device Dl, that upon expansion of the bellows-piston $9 lubricant will be displaced from said cylinder i2 and forcedthrough the conduit I 5 to the lubricant distributing device D and from saidlubricant distributing device to the rail., since the check valve i3 will prevent the lubricant from being forced from said cylinder to the reservoir C.Y Cn the other hand, Yit'will be equally appar-ent that upon contraction of the bellows-piston IQ, lubricant will be drawn into the cylinder I2 from the reservoir C, since the check valve it will prevent lubricant from being drawn from the conduit i5 into said cylinder. In other Words, it is apparent that each timethe bellows-piston I9 is expanded, lubricant will be delivered to the lubricant distributing device D, while each time said bellows-piston is contracted replenishing lubricant will be drawn into the cylinder I2 from the reservoir C.

Slidable in the lubricant reservoir C is a iollower ill-a which serves constantly to urge lubricant contained in said reservoir toward the bottom thereof to replace lubricant drawn from said reservoir by the pump EL The pump actuating device F illustrated in Fig. 1 is of a type to be actuated by the wave motion imparted to the rail A due to the passage of train wheels thereover. To this end said device comprises a bellows 2l which is supported at its lower end against downward movement and which is suitably associated at its upper end with the rcl so as to be contracted in response to downward deiicction of the rail due to "passage of rolling stock thereover, suitable spring means 22 being provided to expand or elongate said bellows when the rail ris-es following downward deflection thereof. A suitable conduit'ZS connects the Vpipe i3 with Athe interior of the bellows 2 I, preferably at the bc tom of the latter,l and said bellows '2l otherwise is closed.v Moreover, the closed-circuit system comprising the bellows-piston I9, the pipe i8, the conduit 23 and the bellows 2l is nlledfwith a suitablev liquid such, for example, as light oil. It kwill thus be apparent that each time the rail A is deflected downwardly the bellows 2! will be contracted and liquid will be forced therefromto the bello"ws-pistonY i9, with the result that said bellows-piston E9 will be expanded and will force lubricant from the cylinderyl to the lubricant' distributing device TD.Y it will be equally apparent that each time the rail A rises following downward deflection thereof, the spring means 22" will expand the bellows 2l ywith the result that liquid will be drawn from the bellows-pistoni 9 and the latter lthereby willbe contracted, thus eecting a R said casing 25d and an outwardly extending flange of a cap-piece 25 carried by the bellows 2I at the upper end thereof, said cap-piece having a stem 26 extending through an opening in the top of the casing 2li and engaged at its top with the under face of the rail. Thus, when the rail A is deflected downwardly the bellows 2| is contracted and the spring 22 is compressed. On the other hand, when the rail A rises following downward deflection thereof, the spring .22 acts to elongate or expand the bellows 2|.

In :Iilling the closed-circuit system comprising the bellows-piston IS, the bellows ZI and the connections between the same, the bellows-piston I9 is mechanically' expanded to such an extent that when the ambient temperature drops to the lowest egree expected to be encountered at the location of the apparatus, the liquid in said system will still fill it. Elongation and contraction of the bellows-piston IQ will compensate for expansion and contraction of the liquid due to ambient `ternperature changes and the system thus will function in the same manner despite ambient tempera-ture changes within all ordinary or expected limits.

Instead of employing actuating means for the pump E in the form of a device F such as is illustrated in Fig. 1 to 'be actuated in response to wave motion of the rail A, equivalent pump actuating means, such as the means designated generally as F in Fig. 2 of the drawing, may be provided to be actuated ley-train wheels passing over the rail A.

As in the case of the device F illustrated in Fig. 1, the device F comprises a bellows 2| housed by a protective casing 24 and resting at its bottom upon the bottom of said casing; a

flanged cap-piece 25 at the top of said bellows having a stem 26 extending upwardly therefrom through an opening in the top of the casing 24', and a bellows-expanding coil spring 22 surrounding said bellows and interposed between the bottom of said casing 24 and the ilange of said cappiece, said bellows 2i being internally connected at its bottom with the pump E by a conduit 23. However, instead of the device F being mounted to have its stem 25 depressed by downward deiiection of the rail A, as in the case of the device F illustrated in Fig.v 1, said device F is suitably mounted at the side of the rail A with its stem 26 in the path of the train wheels passing over said rail so that said stem is depressed by the train wheel. the same as the device F.

To variably predetermine the amount of contraction of the bellows 2l' by train wheel rdepression of vrthestern 2S", thus to variably predetermine the 'amount'of expansion of the bellowspiston of the associated pump Yand, consequently, the amount of lubricant which will be delivered to the device D each time the bellows 2I is contracted, oneor more spacing elements 2l' may be interposed betweenntl'ie cap-piece .25V and the top of `the` casing 24K; i I i In other respects the device F operates` Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, Without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

Track rail lubricating apparatus including a lubricant reservoir, a lubricant distributing device for the track rail, a removable pump unit comprising a supporting head carried by the reservoir cover and provided with a valved outlet and with a pump Huid inlet, a pump chamber 1 within the reservoir suspended at its upper end from the supporting head and provided at its lower end with a valved lubricant inlet communicating with the reservoir, the upper end of said pump chamber being in lubricant delivery communication with the valved outlet in said supporting head, a stationary ported member mounted within the pump chamber intermediate the upper and lower ends of the chamber and providing communication therebetween, and an expansible and contractible bellows-piston carried by said stationary member and in communication onlywith said fluid inlet of said pump unit supporting head, a piping connection between the valved outlet of the said supporting head and the lubricant distributing device, and a bellows-type actuator in closed fluid circuit communication through said pump fluid inlet with the bellowspiston Within the pump chamber.

THOMAS E. RODMAN.

HAROLD G. WARR. 

